The Penn Institute for Economic Research (PIER) was established
in 1993 to create an environment for research and teaching
that will enhance the role of the University
of Pennsylvania as one of the leading institutions in
the world for the study of economics. To accomplish this
mission, PIER's main goals are to promote and support the
efforts of faculty and students in advancing the science
of economics, to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas
and research results within and outside of the Penn academic
community, and to foster a better understanding of the importance
of basic economic research in the formulation and assessment
of public policy.
PIER administers seven
research programs that correspond to the main fields
of research of the economics community at Penn. These fields
are econometrics, empirical microeconomics, financial economics,
international economics, macroeconomics, microeconomic theory,
and political economy. Each program is coordinated by a
group of research fellows
of the Institute who share overall responsibility for
workshops, conferences, an other research activities.
PIER co-sponsors workshops in the economics
department and disseminates research findings to the
academic community through a Working
Paper Series. The Institute's working papers are also
available through the PIER
Abstracting Journal, an electronic publication of the
Social Science Research Network.
PIER also provides the
Martha and Jonathan Cohen Distinguished Visitors Program
that brings in outstanding scholars in the various fields
of economics. The goals of the program are to provide lectures
to the Penn Economics community and enable students and
faculty to meet individually with distinguished scholars
throughout their visit.
PIER organizes Economics Day at Penn and provides the Lawrence
R. Klein Prize for the best undergraduate research paper
and the Maloof Family Dissertation Fellowship in Economics.
The Institute also holds conferences
at which research papers are presented and discussed, to
facilitate interactions between Penn researchers and other
scholars around the world, and organizes a monthly luncheon
to provide its fellows with an informal forum for the exchange
of ideas.
